Tuck-making guide



June 23, 1953 'r. a CARROLL TUCK-MAKING GUIDE Filed June 14, 1950 2Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. I

FIG.

Tr N a ME m 5 l June 23, 1953 T. E. CARROLL TUCK-IIAKING GUIDE FiledJune 14, 1950 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 A J ATTO EY Patented June 23, 1953UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE I .2,s42,s2s p TUCK-MAKING GUIDE 7 ThomasEdward cal-mu, New York, N. Y. I ApplicationJuneld, 1950, Serial No.168,068

This invention relates 'to improvements in tuck-making devices forsewing machines and has for its object to provide a simple sewingmachineattachment whereby tucks or pleats of various widths may be readily madein a piece of cloth or other fabric at accurately spaced in-' tervals.

The object of the invention is to provide a simple attachment of lowmanufacturing cost which may be used with any make of sewing machinewhereby both the widthoi the tuck or pleat and also the spacing of thetricks or pleats may be speedily and accurately adjusted within a rangesuflicient to meet the requirements of the trade.

A. further object of the inventionis to provide a device of thecharacter described which is simple and easy to operate and with which asewing machine operator of ordinary skill may easily and rapidly formpleats or tucks or" uni form width accurately spaced in the cloth orother fabric being sewn.

2 Claims. (01. 112-144 Further objects of the invention'will appear.

from the following description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings wherein'is shown a preferred embodimenttuck-forming device.

In the said drawings,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a sewing machine equipped with my improvedtuck-forming device;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a portion of the tuckforming device shown inFig. l on a much enlarged scale;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view on line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. i is a vertical sectional view on line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig 5 is a similar view on line 5--5 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 6 is a similar view on line 5-6 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, particularly to Fig. 1, I indicatesthe headof the sewing machine mounted in the usual manner on a table over whichthe work is advanced by the operator. Attached to the top of the sewingmachine table at of my improved 7 a distance away from the needle is abladeor 4 guide 3 over the edge of which the cloth is folded to form thetuck. The blade here shown is of the same shape as shown in my priorPatent No. 2,043,733, but instead of being mounted for reciprocation asin the patent, the blade is supported in fixed position during theoperation of the machine, its position, however, being adjustable withrespect to the position of the needle in v order to form tucks of shapedconfiguration having a straight edge 4 along its foot, which straightedge is positioned parallel with the path of travel of the cloth throughthe machine; The shank of theblade is formed in two parts slidablymounted one on the other, one part being slotted as shownat 5' toreceive a clamping screw 6 whereby the straight edge 4 of the blademaybe positioned at varying distances from the needle to provide tucksof different widths. The blade 3 is mounted for pivotal movement arounda binding post? so that it may be swung out of they way when the clothis placed on the table and .then swu'ngfback' The cloth to be sewn ismoved across the table of the machine beneath the blade 3 and the tuckformed by folding the edge of the'cloth over the blade as shown in Fig.3 so that the needle of the machine which forms the stitches imrnediatelbeyond the edge of the blade will produce a seam parallel with the foldof the cloth over the edge Of the blade, thereby forming a tuck of aWidth equal to the distance from the edge 4 of the blade to the seamformed by the needle 2.

Blades of the type described above are old and well known and my presentimprovement relates primarily to means for facilitating the folding ofthe cloth over the edge of the blade 3 at properly spaced intervalsand'in lines parallel with the previously formed tucks so as to produceparallel tucks of uniform width and uniformly spaced in the cloth. Forthis purpose I provide a guiding member ID of the shape shown in Fig. 3,the

guiding member being attached by any suitable means to the top of themachine at a position adjacent to and in advance of the needle, as shownin Figs. 2 and 3. The guide l0 consists of a strip of sheet metalpreferably somewhat resilient and I comprising a substantially flatslotted portion for attachment to the top of the machine, and anupwardly bowed guide portion extending across the machine in front ofthe needle in position for the end of the downwardly bent outer portionto rest upon the cloth at a point coincident with the previously formedtuck. Otherwise stated, the

between the tucks so that as the cloth is ad vanced under the needle theoperator can, by

varying'widths. its-shown,- the blade consists of a flat sheet of steelof L A screw I! having a knurled head is threaded in the base throughthe slot in the flat portion of the guide l0 near the front edge of thebase, the screw having collar 18 seated in a recess in the base I5 andunderlying the guide. When the screw I1 is loosened the free end of theguide will be lifted by the collar 18 to the desired extent, dependinupon the thickenss of the fabric. In Fig. 3 Ihave-indicated the rangeof-ad-- justment of the guide ID in dotted and full lines. respectively.

Means are preferably provided for rapidly and accurately adjusting theguide 10 to make tucks of different widths. To this end one edge of theslotted portion of the guide is provided with rack teeth 2|, which teethmesh with a pinion 22 attached to the under side of a notched indexwheel 23 mounted for rotation adjacent the path of movement of the rackteeth and with the index wheel overlying the guide blade, as shown moreparticularly in Fig. 2. The index Wheel is notched around its peripheryas shown, and co-operating with the notches is a spring-pressed pawl 24shaped to accurately fit the notches in the wheel and hold the same inadjusted posi tion. The face of the index wheel is provided withaccurately spaced index marks so that the guide plate may be quicklymoved to the exact position necessary to properly space the tucks andthere held by the pawl.

It is the customary practice at present to mark the cloth in which thetucks are to be formed with parallel lines markin the location of thetucks. This is a time-consuming operation which requires carefulexecution. With my improved guide it is only necessary to have aschedule of the spacing of the tucks and reset the guide, which can bedone in a moment's time, whenever the schedule indicates a change in thespacing.

While I have shown and described my improved tuck-spacing guide in theform in which it is now made and sold, it is to be understood that myinvention is not limited to the structural details herein disclosedexcept as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A tuck-spacing guide for sewing machines, comprising a guide memberhaving a work-engaging portion and means for adjusting said membertransversely of the path of movement of the work through the machine toshift the work-engaging portion to different predetermined distancesfrom the line parallel with the feed passing through the projection ofthe needle, said means comprising a rack on said guide member, a pinionengaging said rack and means for locking said pinion in differentpositions of adjustment to hold the guide member against inadvertentmovement, comprising an adjusting knob secured to said pinion havingmarginal notches corresponding to the positions of adjustment of saidguide and a locking pawl positioned to engage said notches and hold saidknob and pinion against movement, said guide member being slideablysupported and at all times free to move under the action of saidadjusting means.

2. A tuck-spacing guide as defined in claim 1, in which said pinion ismounted on the table for rotational movement only with respect thereto.

THOMAS EDWARD CARROLL.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 23,564 Gould Apr. 12, 1859 413,660 Greene e Oct. 29, 1889423,452 Snyder Mar. 18, 1890 829,298 Serodino Aug. 21, 1906 1,407,208McDougal Feb. 21, 1922 1,997,584 Howard Apr. 16, 1935

